Obstetric Outcomes of pregnant women with Covid-19 infection during first and second waves of Covid Pandemic in Lagos Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Coronaviruses are a group of enveloped positive-stranded RNA viruses. They constitute a very important human and animal pathogens. COVID-19, a novel coronavirus was identified towards the end of 2019 following a cluster of pneumonia in Wuhan city in China. Our study aims to document the obstetrics parameters and outcomes of pregnant women diagnosed and managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Methods: The study was a retrospective review of the medical records of all pregnant women admitted to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) COVID 19 Isolation and Treatment Centre during the first wave (from April 2020 to October 2020) and second wave (from December 2020 to April 2021). The clinical characteristics (including COVID severity) and outcomes were retrieved. Results: During the study period thirty-four pregnant women with suspected COVID-19 symptoms for which nasopharyngeal samples for RTPCR for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid were positive were seen and managed following their admission into the isolation ward for COVID-19. Of the 34 women, 50.0% (17) of them were discharged to the antenatal clinic following recovery, 44.1% (15) had childbirth while on admission, and 5.9% (2) had maternal death. Of the 15 deliveries, 14 occurred at term with 15 babies (a set of twins) and one preterm stillbirth. Conclusion: The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in pregnant mothers are similar to those described in the non-pregnant population as pregnancy does not seem to worsen the severity of the disease. Noticeably, severe infection occurred in women with comorbidities such as asthma and hypertensive disorders.